Community-based Social Marketing: State of Play 2012 Susan Mazur-Stommen and Michelle Vigen, ACEEE October 11, 2012
ACEEE Involvement Susan Mazur-Stommen, Ph.D Director, Behavior and Human Dimensions Program smazur@aceee.org Michelle Vigen, MPP Research Analyst, Behavior and Human Dimensions Program mvigen@aceee.org
CBSM: the white paper • Goal is assisting EE stakeholders in efforts to construct programs around social science-based ideas for program implementation. • ACEEE promotes the specific application of appropriate methods for unique, local contexts! • Community-based social marketing (CBSM) is a ‘hot’ concept that is often misunderstood or misapplied. • With our partners from One Change Foundation, known nationally for their CBSM program, Project Porchlight, we felt this was a good opportunity to discuss this approach in-depth
Goals Today Define Community-based social marketing and its components Describe core concepts and application of CBSM Provide recent examples of its use within energy efficiency and demand-side management programs. One Change will be discussing CBSM with respect to home retrofits.
CBSM is… • An alternative model about behavior change • The attitude-behavior model suggests that simply informing individuals will suffice for them to change a behavior. • The economic self-interest model assumes individuals will change behavior to maximize financial benefit. • Community-based social marketing precedes from the idea that both of these may be necessary, but insufficient to change complex and deeply rooted habits. • A set of steps that any CBSM program must incorporate (from Mackenzie- Mohr): 1. Selecting behaviors that will achieve program outcomes 2. Identifying barriers and benefits, using local research when possible 3. Developing strategies, addressing barriers 4. Piloting the strategies, ensuring effectiveness of strategies 5. Broad-scale implementation and evaluation, using direct and observational measurement
CBSM is… • More targeted, leaner, and more impactful • A way to overcome barriers and consider overlooked human behavior aspects • Appealing to our social selves, not just our economic selves: • Behavior change happens within a social context, which provides additional motivation and support (think Weight Watchers) • The thoughtful application of social marketing tools to specific, local , barriers
What CBSM is NOT • Community-based social marketing is not a synonym for social media • CBSM is not traditional marketing oriented around the four P’s: Product, Price, Placement, and Promotion • CBSM is not ‘out - reach’ in a tent at a fair • CBSM is not an ‘educational’ effort • Educational materials may be developed for the effort, but simple distribution is not CBSM
Why CBSM works • CBSM consider certain factors to be important in decision-making, including: • Social cues, self-image and the status quo, local values and identities. • The CBSM framework guides program design toward specific outcomes, From powerwise.ca commercial Integrating change in a community-based framework rather than outputs. • For example, rather than designing a program where the goal would be an output of promotional information; a CBSM program focuses on the measurable outcome achieved from a specific action such as the energy savings from turning down a water heater to 120 degrees. • Program designs move beyond reliance upon uni-directional transfer of information to passive recipients. Participants are encouraged to engage. • CBSM employs direct observation and empirical measurements of behavior change (as opposed to post-delivery surveys and correlation).
CBSM is LOCAL • Traditional programs often have a “cookie -cutter ” quality • Behavior-based energy efficiency programs are effective because they address the specific barriers and challenges that program participants will experience as they attempt to adopt the new behavior. • Barriers are inherently local , maybe even individual -- thus CBSM programs are custom-made to fit the needs of the target community. • Focus groups, interviews, literature reviews, and surveys help program designers identify barriers the target audience is most likely to encounter. • Local research can uncover important information such as • When certain audiences are available to meet (farmers’ availability around planting and harvest) • Who is the best messenger to deliver information (local environmental advocates or well-known civic leaders) • What messages resonate with local culture, values, and identity (climate change or economic recovery) Image from hopeforone.com
Save the Crabs • “Save the Crabs” campaign in the Chesapeake Bay/Washington, D.C. area. • Run-off was impacting the water quality in the Chesapeake Bay • In the CBSM campaign, homeowners were asked to complete one specific action: to fertilize in the fall instead of the spring to reduce runoff into the bay. • The campaign was framed around the blue crab, a seafood with local cultural resonance • Blue crabs also symbolized a crucial regional industry (Paolisso 2007). • The slogan “Save the crabs…then eat them later” representing the request to save fertilizing till the fall was promoted by local chefs and local newspapers • The program was promoted in restaurants and by homeowners who displayed signs reading • The campaign also used a print and TV media campaign. • Post-campaign survey results showed that those who were exposed to the campaign were significantly more likely not to fertilize their lawn in the spring (Landers et al. 2006).
Tool: Commitment • Spoken, written, and public statements reinforce self-image • Example: SMUD found that people who made a pledge goal achieved 3X savings as the average (Schick and Goodwin 2011). • We want to bring our behavior into alignment with public statements • Grant McCracken, an anthropologist from MIT, calls these ‘unities’ in his theory Diderot’s Bathrobe . • Misapplication: PEPCO put up print ads at DC Metro Stations and bus shelters with random actors and a textual script that read, “I pledge to set my thermostat at 68.” • Pledging, PEPCO, U R doin ’ it rong. • How to fix? PEPCO could have a welcome kit for new accounts that includes a mail-in pledge.
Tool: Social Norming • No one wants to be weird! • Offer demonstration of ‘the norm’ • Make behavior impacts visible and comparable • Many utilities across the United States are working with third-party providers, such as C3, OPOWER, and Tendril, to send their customers personalized reports • I made fun of PEPCO last slide, so let me give them credit for a good website: http://www.pepco.com/home/billing/myaccount.aspx • With ‘norms’ NUMBERS MATTER. Show people that other people are doing it too. • When to use it: If there is a lack of motivation due to uncertainty about social acceptance NYTimes.com, Mario Tama/Getty Images Comparing Yourself to Others: It’s Not All Bad
Tool: Prompts • Prompts are VISIBLE calls to a specific action, “Did you turn out the lights?” • Prompts are NOT slogans • Prompts can be delivered through signage, feedback devices, or reminders (like a door hanger) • Prompts need to be placed in physical proximity to the targeted action • Prompts need to be deployed as close to the timing of the action as possible • Prompts also require placement within a natural sequence of actions: • For example, it is recommended that you check the batteries in your smoke alarm when you turn the clocks forward and back in Spring and Fall, thus appending a new and ‘voluntary’ action to an established and permanent habit. • When to use it: If a major barrier to completing an action is forgetfulness or a lack of instant cues, providing a prompt can be an effective intervention. • E.g. turning off the lights when leaving empty rooms. A prompt, in the form of a light switch sticker, can direct occupants to turn off the lights and remind them just as they are leaving the room to do so (Temple University Office of Sustainability 2009; UCF Today 2012).
Tool: Convenience • Many barriers to behavior change are rooted in inconvenience that limits ability or incentive to take action • These barriers can be found in the built environment : • Example, you may want to encourage taking the stairs, but the stairs are located at the opposite end of the building • Barriers can also appear in the processes we encounter as we navigate our day: • Example, you want employees to bike to work more often, but have an 8:00AM all-hands staff meeting every morning. • When to use it: If there is a structural or procedural barrier that causes significant inconvenience to completing an action, a convenience-altering intervention should be implemented. • Example: The University of Minnesota’s Power Police does a standard installation at each workstation to address the inconvenience of reaching under the desk to turn off a power strip at the end of the work day. They install an intermediary switch between the power strip and the outlet, which is laid on the desk, easily within reach (University of Minnesota 2012). Michelle Vigen Easier to see, easier to reach
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